Grant from Verizon allows St. Joseph to help about 300 patients 50 and older
LEXINGTON, Ky. (August 1, 2014) — Select patients managing chronic disease will soon have new technologies at their fingertips to monitor their condition thanks to the support of Verizon to the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation, part of KentuckyOne Health.
Funding from the Verizon Foundation as well as in-kind donation of technologies from Verizon Wireless will create a program to help patients age 50 and older monitor and manage their health with new technologies after being discharged from Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph East and Saint Joseph Mount Sterling, all part of KentuckyOne Health.
Additionally, some patients referred from a primary care provider with certain serious health concerns or patients who have been treated for congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery bypass graft surgery, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and other concerns are eligible to enroll in the program.
The in-kind donation of technologies from Verizon includes 4G LTE powered smartphones and tablets. In addition, grant funds will purchase biometric devices to allow patients to better self-manage their chronic conditions and share information with R.N. transition coaches, health coaches, certified dietitians, diabetes educators, nutrition counselors and primary care physicians, to better help patients achieve their health goals. Patients will use these Verizon Wireless smartphones and tablets over the course of six months to access pre-loaded health apps, such as Glucose Buddy and Fooducate.
The $125,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation will provide items such as digital weight scales, blood pressure monitors, FitBit activity trackers, CalorieKing Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter book and digital food scales/nutritional calculators. The grant funding will provide some Diabetes Mellitus patients with glucose test strips.
The program will also provide each patient with health coaching based on his or her individual health needs. The coaching may include diabetes education, nutritional counseling and more. Participants get to keep the cookbook and the digital food scale/nutritional calculator.
The goal is to enroll 300 patients in the first year of the program.
Verizon is also supplying all of the technology protective gear for the devices, the data plans to allow that technology to work, plus funding for a part-time dietitian and research assistant for the program.
Add Comment